Rohtak realty riding high

Realty zooms in Rohtak
The Rohtak area is no longer a poor cousin of Delhi and NCR. Several ongoing development projects have increased the realty quotient of the area, writes Bijendra Ahlawat

After the real estate success stories of Noida and Gurgaon, it seems to be the turn of the Rohtak region to ride on the realty high tide. Several ambitious projects and schemes have stirred up the realty scene in this region with investors and realtors both realising the golden potential of the area.

The Rohtak-Jhajjar-Sonepat part of the National Capital Region (NCR) is trudging firmly on the path of progress. "Delhi may be about 75 km from Rohtak in geographical terms but psychologically this distance has got reduced heavily due to a number of ongoing development projects in the area", claims Rajesh Kumar a Rohtak-based property dealer.

"Tagged as the old Rohtak district, the region has already stepped on the fast track of development. Very soon one will hardly find any difference between the overall standard of life here and in Delhi or Gurgaon", claims Yoginder Dahiya, another Rohtak-based real estate consultant. The results of the ongoing development process will, however, depend on the pace of work and time that will be taken in making the basic infrastructure available, he adds.

The ongoing work of converting NH-10 into a six-lane expressway will surely give a boost to the realty sector in the region. After the completion of this work, the travelling time to Delhi and to the other important cities in the NCR would get reduced substantially. This will lead to an increase in commercial and industrial activities in the area.

"A number of new townships will be developed in the area lying between Rohtak and Bahadurgarh and between Jhajjar and Delhi in the next decade as housing demand will increase substantially. The area is going to be a good investment option in the long term", adds Rajesh.

"The development of the KMP Expressway that will connect Kundli in Sonepat with Palwal in south Haryana is going to be the backbone of the progress story of this region", says Sriniwas Gupta, a property consultant based in Bahadurgarh. "The expressway will not only provide a major relief to traffic congestion in Delhi but will also emerge as an important corridor of progress in Haryana due to the bright prospects of development of various commercial and industrial hubs and townships along it", says Gupta.

This mega project has already fueled property prices in the region. Land prices along the expressway have shot up tremendously in the past few years.

Industrial Model Township (IMT) at Rohtak has brought big companies like Maruti and Asian Paints to the area and this has also made the realty sector buoyant in the region.

The new land acquisition policy of the state government with enhanced compensation amount has also made land a scarce and prized commodity in the area. "Some of the farmers have even opposed the move to acquire land for industrial and commercial projects as the market price of land has increased manifold," says Raj Singh Hooda, a resident of the area.

The residential segment is buzzing with activity in the region as the demand is likely to surge in the years to come. While groups like Suncity and Omaxe have already launched projects in Rohtak and the nearby areas, HUDA has also planned several new sectors in and around the city after almost 30 years to cater to the rising demand. The development of as many as 17 new sectors, including 11 residential sectors, has been part of the work so far. The new sectors being developed by HUDA include Sector-7, 28, 33, 34, 35, 36-A, 37, 21-B, 21-C, 21-D and 21-E (all residential). The sectors meant for Commercial use will be Sector 18-A, 30 and 31-A, while Sector 18 and 21-A will be Transport Zones. Sector 21 will be Special Zone.

Land prices have already boomed in some of the existing sectors and colonies where one square yard of land is priced at Rs 30,000 or more.

"We have four residential projects here on land measuring about 400 acres", said Adesh Mittal, manager of the Suncity Group here. He said the group had carved out residential plots in various new sectors and also had 1,000 flats on offer. The flats will be ready for possession in about two-and-a-half years. He said land prices in these sectors were between Rs 10,000 and Rs 15,000 per sq. yd. at present, and were likely to go up in the near future.

The Omaxe group has also reportedly acquired about 120 acres and is offering plots as well as flats at various locations.

The six-laning of the NH-0 from Rohtak to Delhi, development of the KMP corridor and some other national-level projects in the region have made this area the most sought after one by realtors as well as investors. A senior official of the state government said as Delhi, Gurgaon and Noida had reached the saturation point in commercial as well residential growth, the spotlight was now on the Rohtak-Jhajjar-Sonepat belt. This region will soon be the next hub of industrial and realty growth.